The Protectors
The Protectors is the second live action thriller television series created by Gerry Anderson, Produced by ITC Entertainment in 1971 -1973 and aired from 1972 - 1974. Guest appearances were often made by prominent actors of that period. Lew Grade gave Anderson the outline to create a series, the first series of 26 episodes was successful and Anderson was tasked with a second, which also ran for 26 episodes, each show ran for 25 mins; a third series was on the table at some stage, but was withdrawn. Regular Cast *Robert Vaughan - Harry Rule *Nyree Dawn Porter - Contessa Caroline di Contini *Tony Anholt - Paul Buchet *Anthony Chinn - Chino *Yasuko Nagazumi - Suki Not all regulars were in every episode and Vaughan was absent from at least one. Synopsis Three inexplicably affluent international private detectives/troubleshooters who were charged with ensuring the protection of innocents. They belonged to an organization called The Protectors and were based in London. Harry lead the group, The Contessa lived in Italy (when she wasn't working with Harry); She ran her own detective agency that specialized in exposing art frauds and recovering stolen art. Paul Buchet worked out of Paris, and was the group's researcher and gadget specialist. Adventures ranged from simple kidnapping to convoluted cases of international intrigue. These characters were all wealthy and drove exotic cars of the era including the Citroën SM and Jensen Interceptor. > Episode List Season 1 # 2000 ft To Die # Brother Hood # Disappearing Trick # Your Witness # The Quick Brown Fox # The Numbers Game # Triple Cross # A Kind Of Wild Justice # One And One Makes One # See No Evil # Balance Of Terror # King Con # The Big Hit # Thinkback # The First Circle # Chase # ...With A Little Help From My Friends # For The Rest Of Your Natural... # The Bodyguards # Talkdown # A Case For The Right # A Matter Of Life And Death # It Could Be Practically Anywhere On The Island # Vocal # It Was All Over In Leipzig # Ceremony For The Dead Series 2 # Bagman # The Bridge # Fighting Fund # Quin # Lena # Goodbye George # Implicado # The Last Frontier # Baubles Bangles And Beads # Petard # Burning Bush # Border Line # WAM Part One # WAM Part Two # Dragon Chase # Zeke's Blues # Decoy # A Pocketful Of Posies # Shadbolt # Sugar And Spice # Blockbuster # Wheels # The Tiger And The Goat # The Insider # Trial # Route 27 Regular Locations *Edgwarebury Hotel, Elstree, Hertfordshire, UK. *Barnet Lane, Elstree, Hertfordshire *High Canons, Well End, Hertfordshire, UK *2 Courtfield Mews, Sth Kensington, London, UK Home Release *Released to region 2 DVD in 2003 *North American DVD **Season 1 September 2003 **Season 2 May 2004. Trivia *The series was shot on 16mm film rather than the usual 35mm, despite its exotic capital and major city locations, as well as its affluent characters. *The series was unusual for Anderson in that it did not entail any significant Sci-fi or special effects. In fact, it was only his second foray outside sci-fi or fantasy after the 1960 film Crossroads to Crime - and his last. *Nyree Dawn Porter's role was originaly to have been a male character. *The series' theme song, "Avenues and Alleyways" became very popular in its version sung by Tony Christie. *This was the first Gerry Anderson TV production to not involve composer Barry Gray. Alleged Dissent Wikipedia - The protectors *Anderson claimed Vaughn acted like a Hollywood prima donna and refused to get on with the other actors. *Vaughn claimed that he felt the series was "tasteless junk", and that he couldn't understand the scripts either before or during shooting. *Vaughn was given the opportunity to direct one episode himself - #23 in production order, Grade called it the worst episode he'd ever seen of anything. References Category:The Protectors Category:Gerry Anderson Shows Category:Television Series Category:Live Action Television Series